Verbs from Isaiah

Introduction: Lessons from Parenting

Probably my greatest joy in life has been being a dad to our three boys. I’m certainly not perfect at it by any stretch of the imagination, but I do think I’ve gotten a good deal better at it over time. I think partly what has helped me improve as a dad has had a lot to do with taking time to observe human behavior both in my boys and in others.

Lesson 1: Encouraging works better than Condemning

For instance, it’s pretty universally true that encouraging a child (or really anyone else for that matter) is a whole lot more likely to get a positive result out of that person than telling that same person that they’re failing. Encouraging someone builds self-confidence, self-sufficiency, and a desire to do more. As true as that is for adults, it’s even more important for children. Those lessons learned carry on with them throughout their life-time.

Lesson 2: Desire to Hang On to Stuff

Another helpful quirk I’ve learned about us humans is this:

“What’s the quickest way to make a child want a toy or a piece of food that they hadn’t been interested in before?”

“Take it away.”

It’s amazing how quickly that flip will switch from not being interested to having to have whatever the item is.

Intro to Isaiah

Our Isaiah text today is in Second Isaiah, that is to say everything in the book of Isaiah from chapter 40 through chapter 66.

In the first 39 chapters of Isaiah, we hear strong words of Israel’s sin and the coming judgement of God for the people’s lack of repentance. Then, things change.

It was a little over 500 years before Christ. Babylonian Armies had spilled into Israel and captured the tiny kingdom of Israel. King Cyrus the Great of Persia had taken control and had exiled Israel’s leadership out of Israel and into Babylon; threatening to destroy their cultural and spiritual identity.

And it’s interesting what happened… people who had sinned wildly and balked at their need of God suddenly found themselves clinging to the hope of who God was in the world even as Babylon threatened to extinguish their lives.

It’s like that child that has his or her toy taken away and then suddenly that toy becomes the most important thing in the world. As Babylon threatened to destroy Israel, those who had ignored their faith cried out for a connection with the divine.

Let’s turn to to hear God’s response:

In the first five verses of 42 we hear of the suffering servant; pointing potentially toward a coming Messiah or even to the people of Israel who find themselves in captivity. Those who are bruised reeds, battered in the winds but that will not break… and why won’t that reed break? Because God is with them.

The first five verses remind the people who God is and that God does not abandon them to the storms around them. We could spend a good deal of time in these five verses.

But for our pondering today, I really want us to focus in on one verse… the next verse,

I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations

Let’s break this down some:

First let’s start with who is talking here. “I am the Lord.” What Lord is this? Well, verse five told us:

“5 Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it:”

This isn’t just any master on the street or in a palace… this is the very Divine God who breathes life into us. It is the one who created the heavens and the earth and all that comes from the earth.

This is Isaiah telling us to sit up and pay attention; the words that are coming are important.

And after making sure we know who is talking, we get these three powerful verbs about God’s relationship with us. That through God we are called, taken, and given.

Called you in righteousness

First, the Lord says that we are a called people… and specifically that we are called in righteousness.

Righteousness is an important word that sometimes can sound great but leave us scratching our head wondering what it really means. The oxford definition states that righteousness is: “the quality of being morally upright or justifiable.”

But according to the first 39 chapters of Isaiah, to say that the people of Israel are called because they are morally upright and justifiable would be an absolute farce. They were sinful, deserving of God’s judgement not of God’s mercy.

The Oxford definition just doesn’t seem to hold up here.

Paul’s Letter to the Romans from 600 years after Isaiah was written might help us understand it through God’s eyes.

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Paul beautifully and condemningly writes, “all have sinned and fall short.” In other words, righteousness for us is impossible. We can’t achieve that oxford definition of being morally upright and justifiable.” Not really. So much so that Paul writes in verse 21: “apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been made known.”

What we learn through Paul’s writings and Christ’s life is that righteousness is not a state of moral perfection for us to achieve in life… but rather God calling us to righteousness speaks to the relationship that we have with God BECAUSE of God.

The people of Israel were a broken, sinful people, deserving of judgement… and yet they were called into that righteous relationship with God. This is not something they are doing, it is something God HAS DONE. This is true for us as well. Our relationship with God has much more to do with who God is and much less to do with who we by ourselves are.

Taken you by the hand and kept you

Continuing on:

I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have taken you by the hand and kept you. As I hear these words I can’t help but visualize God reaching over and taking the hand of a child.

And in my own experience as a dad, I know that the taking a child’s hand can go a variety of different ways.

Sometimes the child will yearn to reach back and grab the guiding hand of their parent. It can be a tremendous comfort to have that touch and to know that presence of one that loves them so close by.

Other times, distractions can cause the child to pull away and run toward something else. If it is safe, we might release our grip and let them go and seek out what they’re intrigued with while we keep an eye on their whereabouts. But if we’re crossing a street or potential danger is nearby, we hold fast for their safety sake.

But holding our hand isn’t just for when we are children. When we stand before the alter for marriage, the couple will hold hands as they make proclamations of their love and commitment to one another.

Or on our death beds, one of the greatest comforts we can receive as we begin to transition from this life to the next is someone grasping our hands… letting us know we are not alone… comforting us and caring for us… reminding us that we are loved and that everything will be ok.

When God says, “I have taken you by the hand and kept you” it is a sign of incredible comfort, care, love, guidance, commitment, and protection as we hear God’s intentions in walking with us in this life and the next.

Given you as a covenant to the people, a light of the nations

I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations

As we remember that God gave the Son to the world that we might not be condemned but have eternal life, we hear that we too are given to the people and to the nations as God’s covenant and light to the world.

While it is Christ’s life, death, and resurrection that called us into righteousness with God and took our hand in an unyielding grasp of grace and love… we are given as echoes of God’s grace in the world.

The very grace that was declared to us in the baptismal waters and that we receive again and again through the body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ impacts our lives and changes who we are as Christ’s disciples in the world.

One of my favorite hymns from the 20th century is called, “Change my Heart O God” and it goes like this:

Change My Heart Oh God May I Be Like You You Are The Potter I Am The Clay Mold Me And Make Me This Is What I Pray Change My Heart Oh God Make It Ever True Change My Heart Oh God May I Be Like You

Conclusion

Through the work of the Holy Spirit we are transformed by the love of Christ Crucified… we are shaped… molded… and made into something new.

Martin Luther talked of a daily baptism… that daily our old sinful self dies and a new creation is born. That is the process of being transformed by the work of God.

But just as the ball of clay has a difficult time seeing the vase or bowl its creator is forming it into, we too can have difficulty recognizing the changes that God’s grace makes in and through us throughout our lives.

In difficult times as we transition from one stage of life to the next, we might be tempted like the Israelites in captivity or the child who lost the toy to feel sorry for ourselves and focus on our own problems. We can feel like God is working -against- us or that God has given up on us because, for whatever reason, we have a hard time seeing the potter at the wheel that we’re on.

But God declares that not only are we not alone… not only do we have the Great Parent, the creator of all Heaven and Earth, the one who breathes life into our otherwise lifeless molecules, calling us and claiming us… taking us by the hand and keeping us through all of the passages of this life and the next… but that while God doesn’t cause the hardships in our life to happen, God uses all experiences of our life to shape us and so that we might be given back to the world and tell others of that amazing love of the Messiah and show our neighbors the grace that we ourselves have received.

As we transition from one form to the next, God is with us, caring for us… nurturing us… never letting go.

You are called in righteousness by the God of the ages.

Your hand has been taken and kept by the one whose hands transform the universe.

You have been given as a reminder of God’s love and as an echo of the light of Christ in our world.

So know the love of Christ who reaches out and takes your hand. Hear the encouragement of the Most High. Be at peace, and proclaim the good news of God’s faithfulness to you and to the world through his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.